Poignant lost sketches that Winnie the Pooh illustrator E.H. Shepard drew from the First World War trenches have been published for the first time after they were discovered in a time-capsule box.

The collection of more than 100 never-seen-before sketches came to light when researchers stumbled upon a trunk belonging to Shepard which has lain unopened for almost 100 years.

He is best known for bringing the much-loved characters from classics Winnie the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows to life through his famous illustrations.

But during the First World War he had served in some of the bloodiest battles on the Western Front as a captain in the Royal Garrison Artillery.

Below are some selections. More to be seen on the link above.

Sketches: Many of the images are hastily-drawn, such as this battlefield sketch showing British soldiers overwhelming an Austrian gun emplacement at Monte Mosiagh

Grim sights: This battlefield drawing shows bodies and the rubble of buildings around Zillebeke, Belgium not far from the battlefield of Passchendaele

At war: This action-packed scene shows tanks, planes and infantry clashing at the Somme in 1916. Shepard did not come to illustrate children's classics Winne the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows for years after the war

A Bahamas-based hacker was busted for trying to sell scripts, personal information and sexually explicit pictures and videos of celebrities that he stole from his famous victims’ personal email accounts, authorities said Tuesday.

Alonzo Knowles, 23, of Freeport, Bahama, was arrested in Manhattan Monday after trying to sell scripts to an undercover agent, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Alonzo Knowles in court with Federal Defender Clay Kaminski during arraignment and bail hearing. Knowles was not grated bail.

Knowles tried selling scripts from a hit TV show to an unidentified radio host, and also offered to sell sexually explicit images and videos that he had stolen from the personal email accounts of various celebrities and sports figures to undercover agents, prosecutors said.

“This case has all of the elements of the kind of blockbuster script the defendant, Alonzo Knowles, is alleged to have stolen: hacks into celebrities’ private emails, identity theft, and attempts to sell victims’ information to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, these circumstances are all too real,” Bharara said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations began looking into Knowles, also known as Jeff Moxey, this month after a tip from an unnamed radio host.The radio host contacted the producer of a show after Knowles offered to sell him scripts of unproduced episodes of a popular hit show.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Newkirk Testifies in His Own Defense in Fraud Trial

Harvey Newkirk, the former Bryan Cave counsel charged in a fraud scheme to buy Maxim magazine, testified in his own defense Friday, telling jurors he was distracted during the deal because his wife and baby were in the hospital. He also indicated he had reason to believe lenders were being told the truth about the deal.

The Southern District U.S. Attorney's office claims Newkirk took part in a scheme to fraudulently induce lenders to provide millions of dollars for the Maxim deal. Calvin Darden Jr., has pleaded guilty to the scheme in which he impersonated his father, business executive Calvin Darden Sr.

Newkirk, who began testifying Thursday, argued he was the victim of a fraud by Darden Jr.

On Friday, Newkirk said days before the Maxim deal was scheduled to close on Oct. 18, 2013, his pregnant wife was rushed to the hospital, suffering elevated blood pressure.

Their baby was born prematurely, weighing three pounds, he said. His wife remained hospitalized for 10 days while their baby was in intensive care for weeks.

Except for one day, "I was there every day, morning and evening," he said. He and his wife had two other children at home.

He continued working on the deal, though he couldn't use phone or electronic devices in the hospital. He said he alerted other parties and Bryan Cave to the situation.

The defense is seeking to show Newkirk had reason to believe Darden Sr. was involved in the deal. Newkirk's lawyer, Jonathan Harris, a partner at Harris, O'Brien, St. Laurent & Chaudhry, asked him about a conversation Newkirk had with one lender, OpenGate Capital. Newkirk said the lender's owner told him he had spoken with Darden Sr.